Medics in remote communities

Two doctors from South Africa and Australia tell Ella Al-Shamahi about rewards of working in rural communities and the challenges of being hundreds of miles from the nearest large hospital.

Dr Melanie Matthews runs a medical centre in Maningrida, about 500km east of Darwin. She’s a GP with the Mala'la Indigenous health service in the Arnhem Land, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO). GPs working in these services are ranked as Australia’s most satisfied GPs, but it can be a challenge, with complex health needs in the community she serves.

Dr Lungile Hobe-Nxumalo is South African and after training returned to the place she grew up - a rural reserve in the remote northern part of KwaZulu-Natal near the Mozambican border. She’s medical director of Mseleni Hospital. Part of her medical studies were funded with the support of Umthombo Youth Development Foundation which addresses the shortages of healthcare staff in rural hospitals. She’s also past-chair of the Rural Doctors Association of South Africa.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Dr Lungile Hobe-Nxumalo credit Samantha Booysen. (R) Dr Melanie Matthews credit Peter Watson.)